Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set to top the $1 billion mark at the global box office this coming week. The eighth film in the classic Skywalker family saga, The Last Jedi immediately became a force to be reckoned with in its release in theaters worldwide 10 days ago, earning $450 million globally, with $220 million of that tally coming domestically.
While the film's opening fell short of the blockbuster debut of its predecessor The Force Awakens – which earned a monolithic $529 million in its opening frame globally in 2015 ($247.9 million of the take domestically) – it became apparent that Disney and Lucasfilm had another major blockbuster on their hands. Not surprisingly, The Last Jedi continued to do big business this week, and with merry box office estimates for the four-day Christmas weekend, the film is primed to cross a couple financial milestones.
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According to The Wrap, The Last Jedi will earn $100 million domestically on 4,232 screens by Monday. On top of that, the publication says, the film is projected to cross the $400 million mark domestically by Tuesday and the $1 billion mark globally this week.
While The Last Jedi's numbers are no doubt impressive by Hollywood standards, they actually pale in comparison to the record-setting run of The Force Awakens two years ago. While The Last Jedi's 10-day domestic tally sits at $360 million, The Force Awakens scored a blistering $540 million in its first 10 days in theaters. By the time The Force Awakens wrapped up its theatrical run both stateside and abroad, it earned more than $2 billion globally with $936.6 million of the tally coming from North American theaters.
There's no question that hitting the $1 billion global mark is an amazing feat for any film, but at this point it appears that The Last Jedi has a major uphill battle if it's going to even come near the dizzying heights scaled by The Force Awakens. If this weekend is any indication, the prospects for Force Awakens-type of numbers for the new Star Wars film don't look good, since The Last Jedi suffered a 77 percent drop in its first full week of business, making it the worst Friday-to-Friday drop for a Star Wars movie.
Despite the big drop in business, don't expect any major shakeups in the Star Wars universe anytime soon. Critics loved The Last Jedi (while some fans had a differing opinion), and the lower box office numbers won't prevent the J.J. Abrams-helmed Star Wars: Episode IX from coming out in December 2019.
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Source: The Wrap
